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They just can’t help themselves can they?

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After deciding they should have a pop at Ed and David Miliband’s dad, they then allowed a right of reply to Ed only to embarrass him further by sandwiching the letter in-between the same rubbish again – they now have gate-crashed a family and close friends memorial service for Ed’s Uncle. Yes the Daily M*il strikes twice in one week on the side of inappropriateness by sneaking a journalist into the service for Professor Harry Keen, a distinguished Doctor and scientist who passed away earlier this year:

If there were a list of the scientific developments over the last half century that have improved the lives of people with diabetes, one of its striking features would be the number of milestones that involved Professor Harry Keen.

What really made his mark was the Bedford Survey, a project he led in 1962 to try to discover how many people in Bedford had undiagnosed type 2 diabetes.

His team recruited the Girl Guides, Boy Scouts, Women’s Institute and the Round Table to distribute pots to every home in the town and asked every adult to fill a pot with urine.

Remarkably, almost 70% of them did, leading not only to the identification of 250 people with undiagnosed type 2 diabetes, but to the first definition of the pre-diabetic state, which he termed “borderline diabetes”. The study was also the first to identify, at a population level, the relationship between glucose intolerance and risk of cardiovascular disease. – The Independent

Sneaking a journalist into a private memorial is bordering on the lines of obsession that they can’t accept they got the whole issue wrong from day one. So Mr Miliband has now – for the second time in a week – responded publicly to the bullying tactics of a newspaper in an open letter to its owner:

Dear Lord Rothermere,

Yesterday I spoke at a memorial event held at Guy’s Hospital in London for my uncle, Professor Harry Keen, a distinguished doctor who died earlier this year. It was an event in a room on the 29th floor of Guy’s Hospital which was attended only by family members, close friends and colleagues.

I was told by one of my relatives late yesterday evening that a reporter from the Mail on Sunday had found her way into the event uninvited. I also discovered that, once there, she approached members of my family seeking comments on the controversy over the Daily Mail’s description of my late father as someone who “hated Britain”.

My wider family, who are not in public life, feel understandably appalled and shocked that this can have happened.

The Editor of the Mail on Sunday has since confirmed to my office that a journalist from his newspaper did indeed attend the memorial uninvited with the intention of seeking information for publication this weekend.

Sending a reporter to my late uncle’s memorial crosses a line of common decency. I believe it a symptom of the culture and practices of both the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday.

There are many decent people working at those newspapers and I know that many of them will be disgusted by this latest episode. But they will also recognise that what has happened to my family has happened to many others.

I believe no purpose would be served by me complaining to the Press Complaints Commission because it is widely discredited.

Instead, I am writing to you as the owners of the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday because I believe it is long overdue that you reflect on the culture of your newspapers. You should conduct your own swift investigation into who was responsible at a senior level for this latest episode and also who is responsible for the culture and practices of these newspapers which jar so badly with the values of your readers.

There are bigger issues for the people of Britain in the midst of the worst cost of living crisis for a century than intrusion into the life of my family. But the reaction of many people to the Daily Mail’s attacks on my father this week demonstrates that the way your newspapers have behaved does not reflect the real character of our country.

It is now your responsibility to respond.

Ed Miliband

The M*il are claiming that Miliband is using this week’s feud to his advantage and crying publicly to gain favour – good, I hope he continues to challenge the spineless cowards that refuse to come out from behind the newspaper. And it’s catching because today Nick Clegg said on radio that “if anyone excels in… vilifying a lot about modern Britain, it’s the Daily Mail – talk about kettles and pots”. I really hope that the Cameron adds his voice properly and not just skirt round about issue. The behaviour is disgraceful and the Prime Minister should stand up and say that he disagrees with the M*il’s actions too.